Top-Quark Mass Scheme Uncertainties in Higgs Boson Pair Production via Gluon Fusion

Abstract

We investigate theoretical uncertainties arising from the choice of the top-quark mass scheme in Higgs boson pair production via gluon fusion. First, we implement the resummation of the top-quark mass logarithms obtained for the $gg\to HH$ amplitude at high energy and study its phenomenological impact on cross sections. Second, we formulate a threshold-aware treatment of the top-quark mass based on short-distance mass definitions, combining an MSR description near the top-pair threshold with an $\overline{\mathrm{MS}}$ treatment in the high-energy regime. Within the dynamical prescription, the combined mass-scheme variation of the SM inclusive NLO cross section at $\sqrt{s}=14$ TeV is $^{+5.2\%}_{-0.2\%}$. This estimate provides an alternative to the conventional OS-$\overline{\mathrm{MS}}$ envelope.